Riot back rolls, monster strolls,
lantern Lucy late for work.

where did the moon go?

kindle groans farther north

and back with the dregs

ghost a circle penny

for your thoughts?

Identify!

Rude mud hut mama.

What a brew.

Poignant thrust of

ancient crooked design

and seven fall behind.

There was no denying it. There appeared overnight, two elaborate song birds, one on each thigh. They smarted and throbbed, like a tattoo will do. She had no first-hand knowledge of this until recently however when the mysterious disfigurements began to take place. Doctors, stunned by the sheer amount and random…

Page 55, Line 10, Subject 210RoAA

There in the glass window I discovered the catalyst for the sea of smarmy looks I floated on from the corner of Main to the corner of St. James. New ones had popped up overnight, one under each eye. I called Dr. Crest immediately, concerned the new medicine wasn’t working…

Page 138, Line 54, Subject 255CaBB

The young boy awoke the next day into a bleeding dawn and the marks had planted themselves on the palms of his hands and feet. His cries could be heard two villages away as the soldiers reached the encampment…

Page 27, Line 14, Subject 319RoSA

Subject was getting top billing at a number of circus and freak show venues, including several major hotels in the Las Vegas, NV area. She was approached on December 15^th and disappeared 2 days later. A trust appears to have been established for her son Charlie and daughter Alexandra.

Page 346, Line 2, Subject 056CaZZ

I have been able to control it, praise Jesus. I am not a medical marvel; I am a gift from God. All in his name, Amen.

Page 193, Line 2, Subject 430CwSS & 430RoSS

Fraternal twins Mason and Madera reported being grounded several times before their parents believed the marks appeared, never acquired. Madera specifically had evidence to support her assertion. Suffering from a blood disorder her whole life, she never would have risked the chance of infection, especially…

Page 2, Line 2, Subject 001RoAA

Heather Cranston was working at her desk in the downtown Plexar Building when she felt a slight burning sensation on her calf. Often as the day progressed, the sun would cross the floor of the office and give her a pleasant warming up feeling, but this was hotter. Absent-mindedly she touched her leg and found the skin raised and inflamed. Looking down, she saw a circle of arrows, arrowhead chasing feather, three of them.  Heather immediately went to the local hospital who responded by testing her blood alcohol and drug levels. By this time, her fiancé, Herbert Sewickley had arrived to attest to the fact that she had no tattoos the last time he saw her. After a lengthy psychiatric consultation, Heather was sent home with bacitracin and a referral for a plastic surgeon. Two days later, she was back, a simple flame down her upper left arm. Five days after that she presented with an intricate Chinese dragon down her left side that would have taken multiple sittings. She had been seen not 4 hours earlier by a dermatologist, thus establishing without a doubt that this was an actual unexplained phenomenon.

 ***

But none of them were like her, Linda thought. She closed the book and walked away, not bothering with her face mask any more.

A week ago, he noticed me. I think more accurately, he noticed me noticing him. Once he noticed me noticing him, he made it a point to notice me when I came in the coffee place. Again, the city girl in me notes this and notes also that it could be trouble. Because you see…

I give off a vibe. How does one describe this vibe? I don’t know, but this particular worm brings in a certain kind of fish. That’s what I’ve deduced so far. And didn’t this particular crazy come by at the right time, just in time to test my theory.

And test it he did.

Yesterday morning, the homeless man was standing two blocks down, staring at the train exit I depart from. I said nothing, but as I approached, eye contact became accidentally inevitable as he just stood there. Our eyes met briefly and I continued on to ABP. I thought to myself that it was weird he wasn’t in there with his usual coffee and orange juice that I’m pretty sure the manager gives him for free since the orange juice from ABP is like 5 bucks or something outrageous like that. But maybe I had missed his ABP time.

The next day, he is right at the tip of Valenti, where the painted brick sign for Canal St still haunts like a war time tattoo.

Fuck, I say to the morning air, knowing this time there will be words. I am incapable of not giving this person the respect of acknowledgement. He is standing in my path and we have seen each other before. He is already talking before I speak.

” Morning, morning…” He mumbles and his voice gets low and unintelligible.

“Good Morning.” I say simply and continue walking.

“Morning, Jesus is coming…”

The next day he is directly outside the coffee shop, telling the empty street; “Its been so many gathered…”

I can’t help but agree with him.

It seemed she did not appreciate his repeated displays of irony to lighten up the atmosphere.